Wrath of Shame (Haji no Doki)
by KuraraOkumura
Summary: Hinata and Naruto had a son, Seito Uzumaki. The rest of Naruto's generation also had children of their own - and today is the day of their Chuunin exam. Two girls catch everyone's eyes - Kuroichi Hyuuga, a Byakugan-wielder and Leaf orphan, and Haji Shingai-Yoru, Sand Genin with a past as dark as her flickering eyes. Two taijutsu and genjutsu experts. But who are they exactly?
1. Chapter 1: What They Want

_A/N_

_Setting: Generation of Naruto's children._

_Hinata and Naruto had a son, Seito Uzumaki. The rest of Naruto's generation also had children of their own - and today is the day of their Chuunin exam. Leaf, Sand, Mist and Sound meet again. Two girls catch everyone's eyes - Kuroichi Hyuuga, a Byakugan-wielder and Leaf orphan, and Haji Shingai-Yoru, Sand Genin with a past as dark as her flickering eyes. Two taijutsu and genjutsu experts. Two unknown factors in the equation of Seito's future. Who are they? And why exactly are they here? Their presence and talents are no coincidence; powers of Naruto's time are set into motion again, and as the Chuunin exams advance, secrets of all parties are revealed. What is at play is much more important than a simple exam for the next ninja grade - the future and destruction of their world lies in the hands of the new generation._

* * *

Chapter 1: What They Want

_(This is just an introduction of the new characters, you can skip on to the next page break if you want but it would just help you know who all the characters are beforehand otherwise you'll be completely lost. : P)_

Seito Uzumaki, Ya Hyuuga, Kama Inuzuka, Unaga Rock, Sukido Uchiha and Sebaakki Nara had been best of friends ever since the pram. Their parents were childhood friends, so it made sense that the six of them also be friends.

Seito, Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga's only son, had inherited his father's hair, his mother's Byakugan, and both of their talents. Much to Naruto's amusement, the young Uzumaki had also inherited his father's trouble-making penchant. Though his chakra and stamina reserves were enormous, they were unstable and difficult to control. It seemed that part of Kyuubi's chakra had flowed into his host's son, though no one had yet realized exactly to what extent.

Ya Hyuuga was Neji Hyuuga and Ten Ten's daughter. Hyuuga Byakugan, and an impressive mastering of weapons of all kinds; in everything but those white eyes, Ya was her mother's exact portrait.

Kama Inuzuka and Ookami, her wolf partner, was daughter to Kiba Inuzuka and Temari of the Sand. She was a master of weapons and genjutsu, as well as animal jutsu, with a preference for wolves, and looked like a younger version of her father.

Unaga Rock. Taijutsu expert of his generation, along with two other Genins, Unaga had long black hair, and had adopted his father's dressing style, though upgraded a little, with uni-spiked shoulders and a sort of half jumper that only covered one arm and stopped just under his armpits.

Sukido Uchiha, a ninjutsu and healing chakra expert with over developed senses, son to Sasuke Uchiha and to the blind and albino Cloud Jounin Tsubasa Sora. With a preference for jutsu of wind and fire, the youngest Uchiha had pearl white hair he'd inherited from his mother, though their structure was that of an Uchiha's.

Sebaakki Nara, son to Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka, was an impressive user of genjutsu and ninjutsu, particularly water jutsu, and was, just like Kama, a younger version of his father.

Then beside these six were Kuroichi Hyuuga, Demashi Kimiko and Setsudan Itan, Konoha's team 13, under taijutsu master and Jounin Rochiru Sataido.

Kuroichi Hyuuga, orphan, had always been known by the name Hyuuga, due to her Byakugan heritage. An thirteen year old with the black, unruly mane of an Uchiha, she radiated darkness and power. Demashi and Setsudan were two years younger than her, Setsudan with faded red hair and brown eyes, Demashi with bone white hair and pale blue eyes. Both of them harmless and drawn back in appearance - but ONLY in appearance. The three of them had met in the academy. And though Kuroichi had flat out refused to pass the Chuunin exam twice before, the year that Demashi and Setsudan had joined the Academy and then had been allowed to join the Genin exam, she had followed. They'd been made Genin easily, and had somehow been put into the same team - Team 13, under Rochiru Sataido.

It was as though Kuroichi had been waiting for the right partners. She'd been brilliant at the academy, but she'd never seemed interested in walking the next step.

And then Demashi and Setsudan were suddenly there, and she'd aced her Genin exams with them at her side.

She was the genius ninja of her generation, with a preference for taijutsu, like her sensei, and for fire jutsu. Her hair and fire jutsu brought Konoha believe that she was the daughter of an Uchiha; some said that her parents had abandoned her when she was a baby because her uncontrolled and too-powerful chakra had killed someone of their entourage; others whispered that her parents had died at the hands of supporters of the defeated Akatsuki. More still claimed that she had run away from her home, in one of those continents that had no academy and to whom ninjas were the plague incarnate.

Demashi Kimiko was the Toad Sannin's daughter, abandoned on his doorstep one night yet so obviously HIS - the mane of bone white hair, the square jaw, the strong nose and those striking, killing eyes; she looked so much like him it was scary. Whoever her mother had been, there was no trace of that woman left behind in her daughter's features. Nothing at all, except perhaps that darkness that sometimes overwhelmed the girl, when her eyes glazed over at the times when she knew nobody was looking at her. It wasn't sorrow or pain in those eyes in these moments - but a darkness that would have put Sasuke Uchiha's lust for revenge to shame. That darkness had definitely not been inherited from her father.

And Setsudan Itan... The eleven year old was strikingly - and admittedly disturbingly so - similar in looks to a certain student of Jiraiya's - a red-headed student who later became the vessel to one of the six Paths of Pain. He was an orphan, and though his resemblance to Nagato had launched even more rumours about his origins than Kuroichi had, Setsudan had never paid them any heed. Whether or not he knew who his parents were, nobody knew - and he'd never made any move to hint at a possible correct answer.

Kuroichi, Demashi and Setsudan were complete antagonists to Seito, Ya, Unaga, Sukido, Kama and Sebaakki. The two groups of youngsters had shown an immediate animosity towards the other; rivalry and the unknown had wedged a black void between them that only seemed to widen with the approach of the Chunnin exams.

And those exams - were today.

* * *

The moment Seito stepped into the Konoha Exam hall, flanked by his team members Kama Inuzuka and his wolf cub Ookami and Sebaakki Nara, he realized that they were late.

It was nearly comical that their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, had actually rubbed off on the three of them and caused them to be consistently late for everything. Normally, Seito Uzumaki would have laughed it off, but today, he felt more inclined to groan and facepalm himself.

Which he did.

He peeped through his fingers as Kama dropped a hand on his shoulder and grinned at him. Despite himself, the youngest Uzumaki grinned back at the brown haired Inuzuka; Kama's constant good humour and enthusiasm had always been highly contagious. Then a girl's high pitched delight exploded in his ears as someone threw their arms around his neck, and Seito chuckled as he hugged his cousin back, lifting her by the waist and twirling her around as she laughed.

Ya Hyuuga, daughter of Neji Hyuuga and Ten Ten, and his cousin on his mother's side. Though his uncle Neji was downright scary, the only thing Ya had in common with her father was her eyes - and thank KAMI for that! The dark, shoulder-long thick hair she held from her mother was pulled into a single ponytail atop her head. Her Leaf band protector was attached to her forehead, her kunai slipped into the belt of a skirt that reached mid-thigh, a pocket strapped across her chest containing shurikens, another lower, crossing the other's strap, and hanging on her hip with more shurikens. He knew by experience that Ya had two more kunai pinned into the base of her ponytail, another in her left high boot, and her right boot contained a hidden pouch of senbon needles - and there were more of those needles pinned into her hair. Ya had been trained as a Hyuuga - a warrior - all her life. She had yet to be surprised in real-time fights. Though she played dumb normally, Seito and the others knew better than to believe her show.

Ya was smart and quick on her feet. Her father had made sure that she was prepared for anything - literally _anything_. Her taijutsu and gentle fist techniques were perfect, and she could hold her ground nearly as easily with lightning and wind ninjutsu, even though she did prefer weapons and close fighting. She was perhaps the Genin of their little group with the most chance of passing this exam - and despite their mutual dislike for Neji Hyuuga, none of them could deny that it was thanks to him.

Seito dropped Ya to the floor, and she clapped his shoulder just as Kama had done only seconds ago.

"Cousin," she said, her smile wide, genuine and highly contagious, just like Kama's.

"Ya-dono," he replied, doing a mock exaggerated bow in front of her. She laughed and caught his hand, dragging him with her as she gestured to Kama and Sebaakki to follow her. Seito looked over his cousin's shoulder as she talked with his two partners, tuning them out for a few minutes as he took in their surroundings. None of them Rookies had ever been inside the Exam Hall.

It was massive. Impressive and rather intimidating in size, with winding stairs curling around the room and up the walls, even though there was no second floor to go to. None that he could see anyway, but he doubted he would have missed one, even if it had been hidden. He turned around.

"Seba," he said to his black haired friend, "can you-"

"There are no hidden doors in the walls, Naruto-kun."

Sebaakki beat him to it, face lifted as he looked around them, his face neutral as per usual. The genjutsu expert had a knack for knowing what they wanted to say before they themselves were even completely sure. Seito grinned at him and nodded, used by now to his friend's antics. He whipped around once more, and ran straight into Hido Morini, Ibiki-sensei's son and Team 3's weapons expert. Hido Morini wasn't a rookie - far from it. Him and his team, Kino Aburame and Takira Akimichi, had been around for two years now. Their sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, hadn't allowed them to join the exam before this year. Rumours said that it was because Hido had a knack for constantly foregoing orders and going off solo for missions that necessitated complete teamwork. Their last C-Rank mission had apparently been more successful, for here was Hido now, his team at opposite ends of the grounds to him, and they were ready for the exam.

"Hi Hido-san," Seito smiled sheepishly, craning his neck to look at the face towering a good foot over his own.

"Naruto-kun," Hido grinned, deep voice rumbling impossibly low as he spoke. Seito cringed as the giant's saucer of a hand fell on his head and ruffled his hair, making Kama and Ya giggle behind him and Seba raise an eyebrow at the pair of them. Hido was normally not one for demonstrations of affection; being allowed to take the exam must have put him in a good mood. The thirteen year old gave a few experimental paths on the blond's head, then grinned and took a step back just as said blond's neck vertebrae's were beginning to protest. Hido Morini was a good bloke once you knew him well enough, and even though his teammates made it a point to stay as far away from him as possible now, you could tell that they still cared for him in the way they both eyed his every movement out of the corner of their eye, ready to jump to him at the first sign that he needed them.

Hido also had an enormous ability to get into trouble. And, out of battle, he wasn't always very capable of getting out of it alone.

Then Kama stepped in, threw her arms around the giant, and the two of them surprised everyone - except for their respective teammates- when Hido hugged her right back and twirled her around in the same way Seito had done to Ya. The grin on the Uzumaki's face was priceless as he tried hard not to laugh at everyone's open mouthed stares. Then Ookami, the Inuzuka's familiar, barked, and Hido immediately put her down on her feet, the grin on both their faces echoing Seito's.

Though it wasn't common knowledge in Konoha, Kama and Hido had always been friends. Their fathers Kiba and Ibiki had kept a strong relationship after the former's Chuunin exam, and their two only children had gotten on like a charm. Kama had been put into two year old Hido's arms, and that had been it. The only reason nobody was aware of it was because Hido's perpetual habit of grunting and groaning when spoken to in public, had not, until now, ever been let down.

Ookami, the Inuzuka wolf familiar, jumped into Kama's arms, black and white fur shining, and suddenly Hido's teammates were there, flanking him, openly staring at the gaping Genin, daring them to say anything, a promise in their eyes that those who DID dare would regret the day they were born. Knowing Kino and Takira, everybody looked away, acting as though nothing had happened; the Aburame's and Akimichi's reputations were great in Konoha. They were highly competent Genins, held back only by Morini Ibiki's oldest son. It was also a known fact that anyone who dared say a thing about Hido would have to face up to Kino and Takira once they learned about it. They were like older siblings to him - looking out for him at all times. They bore no grudge for him holding them back; on the contrary, they were constantly striving to get him to improve his skills and team spirit.

Kino and Takira were nearly as tall as Hido - five foot seven -, all of three of them thirteen years old and towering over the eleven year old rookies. Seito and Ya weren't even five foot yet, Sebaakki tall for his age at five foot three, and Kama somewhere in the middle at five foot one.

The Aburame and Akimichi gave them a short bow, bending from the waist up with one arm across their stomachs and the other behind their backs, their eyes meeting the four youngsters' only shortly before returning to the rest of the room. Ya, Seito, Kama and Sebaakki returned the bow, and Hido grinned, un-observing of traditions as he patted that blond head one last time before turning away with his Team. The two girls behind the Uzumaki giggled again, and Seito rolled his eyes as he turned to them, not bothering to try and fix the hair that he knew was a constant mess anyway. Damn his father for passing him that hair!

"Seito," a soft voice said into his ear.

Seito recognized the voice instantly and whirled around, throwing his arms around the black haired boy in front of him as a wide grin broke out on his face. This was Rock Unaga, son to Rock Lee and Haruno Sakura, and his best friend since they were toddlers. Unaga laughed and hugged him back, strong arms winding around the blond's waist as he was lifted up into the air and then put back down. Seito pulled back and clapped the other's arm, avoiding the spike protruding from the other's shoulder.

"Una!" They grinned at each other, and suddenly all was right with their worlds.

Unaga was an expert in Taijutsu, as well as his Team's medic-nin. Said Team consisted of himself, Ya Hyuuga, and Sukido Uchiha, son to Sasuke Uchiha and Tsubasa Sora, a blind, white haired albinos Cloud ninja that Sasuke had met on a B-Rank mission given to their respective teams when they were both Chuunins. Cloud and Leaf teams had been sent out, not knowing that the mission had been taken by others, and had met on the site of the mission, a meeting-point in Yu, with a merchant from the Water Country looking to cross through the strip of land separating the Lightning and Fire Countries. It had been love at first sight for the Leaf ninja - the blind yet highly skilled Chuunin had caught the Uchiha's eye immediately, compensating for her lack of eyesight with incredibly developed senses that brought her to surpass even Sasuke himself. Tsubasa had taken some time, but soon enough their love had taken a turn for the best and both Leaf and Cloud Hidden Villages had agreed that the alliance was for the best. Sukido's had inherited his mother's albinism; in everything else, he was an Uchiha.

Seito couldn't see Sukido just then, but he knew that the Uchiha was here. It was just a matter of spotting him. And if they didn't, well he'd show up when he was needed.

That was Sukido's way.

And then Seito saw them. Three kids, three Genin from Sand, sitting away from everyone else.

Two guys standing, facing out from a girl sitting cross-legged on top of a barrel with her back to them, back ram rod straight and inhumanly still.

One of them with hair so dark it looked green, forehead protector laced around his middle, hands in his pockets and bent forward in a careless attitude. Fidgety, hair messy and falling into his face as his eyes darted around from face to face.

The other bald, with no facial hair whatsoever, the bottom part of his face and up to his cheekbones boring scars that looked terrifyingly like burn marks. Lips, or lack thereof, an amass of swollen and hastily stitched scars. Completely white eyes, similar to the Hyuuga family's eyes, fixed downward, body tensed, warning any outsider that thinking that he was not alert was a bad idea - for them. He stood with his arms crossed and his legs parted, feet facing outward, Sand headband wrapped around his forearm, managing to look both relaxed and poised for battle as he ignored all those around him. His lack of facial hair made him look frighteningly young.

Then the girl stood behind the two boys, unfolding her legs slowly. Long, straight, dark red hair flowed down her back in a violent cascade of flames. From where he was, Seito could see black tunic pants bundling around her calves, the collar of a loose white shirt curving and dipping down her lower back and revealing most of it, long sleeves draping over delicate hands. Then she turned, and she was facing him.

You couldn't have called her beautiful. No, there was too much bottled rage, too much animalistic fury in her features to call her 'beautiful'. She was attractive, but in a dark sort of way. Even from the other side of the wide room, Seito could tell that she was dangerous. That that girl wouldn't hesitate to crush you under her foot if it could be of some advantage to her. She was like a Dionaea - a Venus Flytrap. One of those plants that lured insects into its jaws with a sweet smell, and when it was sure that the insect was trapped - snapped closed and took its time to digest you. That girl would eat him alive if he gave her the opportunity.

It took him a moment to realize that she was staring right to him, her forehead protector bearing the Sand symbol dipping slightly over her eyes, casting a shadow on them.

Their eyes met. And then something happened. Her eyes seemed to flicker.

Blue, grey lined irises were replaced with black-rimmed white eyes, as though someone had waved a hand in front of her face.

It lasted less than a millisecond, and then it was gone.

Seito blinked. He looked again, re-focusing his eyes. She had blue eyes. They weren't black-rimmed. And she had an iris - a pupil.

Something stirred inside of the young Uzumaki. Something monstrous, something powerful and ancient. A memory. A power.

A scar.

He'd failed to notice the silence around him, but he heard it now. Ya and Kama's voices had gone quiet, and Unaga at his side was unnaturally still. Seba was closer to his unprotected back than he had been moments before, hovering around them as though expecting that girl to strike at any moment.

They were all staring at her, Seito realized. All five of them. He didn't think anybody else had noticed her flickering eyes - he knew that if not Seba, then one of the other three would have said something about it straight away. Again, he wondered if he'd imagined it. But the thing that had stirred inside his chest growled again, and he knew it had been real.

And she was still looking at him. Staring straight into his eyes as though through them she could see his very soul - his deepest secrets.

_But she can't,_ Seito reassured himself. _She can see only what you're willing to show her._

But the beast was restless inside of him.

He flinched in surprise when a large, strong hand slipped into his. He glanced sideways at Unaga; the black-haired Genin wasn't looking at him, but at the girl. It was his hand through his - the boy had sensed his unease and was trying to comfort him. He was staring at the girl to pass the message to the Uzumaki that he didn't fear her, that they had nothing to be afraid of.

Seito averted his eyes and squeezed the other boy's hand. Together, they watched as the girl took two steps forward and landed her hands on the shoulders of the two guarding Sand Genins, catching their attentions. The bald one acknowledged her with a near imperceptible movement, the other one whipped his head in her direction. Then the two heads turned in their direction, following the girl's gaze.

The hand holding his tugged at his arm, and Seito looked back to Unaga.

"Don't look at them," the black-haired Rock said, fixing his gaze. "Don't acknowledge them. Don't let them see that they have your attention." He paused, and his eyes flickered briefly over to meet Seba's eyes, standing on Seito's right and drinking Unaga's words. Their eyes locked, and some silent agreement passed between them. Unaga's eyes flitted back to him, and he breathed, "Don't give them what they want."

* * *

"Nine Leaf teams, one Sand team, three Sound teams and four Mist teams," Kama recited, counting off her fingers. "Am I right?"

"Triplets," Seito piped in, the grin in his voice nearly tangible.

Everyone turned to him, and Kama said, "What?"

The blond pointed. "They're triplets," he repeated, still grinning madly as though this was the best fun he'd had in weeks. "One of the Sound teams is triplets."

All six of them turned to stare. Indeed, up on the stairs against the wall, jumping up and down and obviously working their endurance and agility - which, Seito had realized earlier, was probably the point of the stairs in the first place - were three Sound Genins, two girls, one boy, looking everything alike except for the length of their hair and the femininity of their features. Three black fringes - and funnily enough, it was the boy who had the longest hair of the three. The two girls were working together, leaping off the other's shoulders, propelling each other with their hands and feet, jumping over the other in turn like the sheep you imagine jumping over each other when you're trying to get to sleep. The boy was all around them, jumping back and forth and back and forth like an over excited kid running around his too-slow parents. Yet the crisp control exerted over the chakra on his hands and feet made it clear that that wasn't what he was doing. It's like he was protecting them - watching over them like a big brother watches over younger siblings.

"See?" Seito beamed at them. "Told you they were triplets."

Ya rolled her eyes and pointed behind him. "Yes, and we have our very own twins - the Hyuugas, remember? My cousins Tomiko and Kikuta. And, my grandfather was one of two twins. Triplets aren't that big news, Sei."

Seito pouted. Ya nearly laughed and restrained herself from remarking that he looked just like his father when he did that. It wasn't that Seito didn't like his father - no, the two male Uzumakis loved each other. It was just that Seito _knew_ that he was his father's exact portrait, and at this point he'd heard it so many times that he'd grown exasperated with those who still said it.

Seito glared at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He was about to say something to her when Kama's voice caught their attention. They looked at her as she said, "That Sand team..."

As though they were one, they turned. The fact that they knew exactly where to look showed what none of them were willing to admit; the three Sand Genins had never stopped being on their minds from the moment they'd seen them.

Seito felt a hand on his arm. He turned and came face to face with Seba. The boy's eyes were dark - darker than usual. He was looking over his head, right at the Sand team. Then he spoke, in a whisper low enough that only the Uzumaki could hear him. Unaga leaned in beside them to hear what the Nara had to say, and when Seba had no reaction to it, Seito shared a worried look with the other boy.

"Whoever they are," Sebaakki started, "they are here for a reason." He paused. The blond and the black-haired ninja waited for him to speak again, eyes studying the other's grave face. The youngest Nara didn't speak much. When he did, it was usually for a good reason. He inclined his chin, pointing at the Sand team. "That girl... Don't trust your eyes. She is not who she looks to be." He shook his head and lowered his eyes to Seito's. "I cannot see through it, but she has a genjutsu up around her. She is hiding her true appearance."

Seito raised his eyebrows. If Shikamaru's son couldn't see through her genjutsu, then that Sand girl was damn strong. Sebaakki was the best genjutsu ninja he'd ever seen, and that included their sensei, Kakashi. His understanding and mastering of genjutsu had, over the years, gradually allowed him to see through most illusions - some kind of ability that was special to him, somehow. Without using any chakra, he could pierce any illusion.

He should have been able to see through the Sand girl's genjutsu. But for some reason he couldn't. And that scared Seito more than he'd ever admit.

He could see why Seba had told him and Unaga this instead of speaking outloud for everyone to hear. He didn't want them to panic. He knew that the others would have had the same reaction as Seito now, only amplified - they would have panicked. Seba didn't want that. He'd told Seito because he was the one who best understood his abilities, because he knew that Seito would understand why it was vital not to tell the rest of their group. And he'd allowed Unaga to listen because he knew that the other boy was the Uzumaki's best friend, that they told each other everything. If you told one or the other of the two boys something, you could be sure that the other would know by nightfall. That was a fact that Ya, Kama, Seba and Sukido had learned fast enough.

"Seba," Unaga whispered. All three of their gazes were fixed on the Sand girl now. "Keep an eye on her. Don't let her get away with it."

The Nara nodded. "Count on me."

* * *

About half an hour later, a ninja wearing the leaf forehead protector who had to be one of the guarding Jounins came into the room. Silence fell on the assembled teams.

"Hichi Suchu, Hichi Kimoto and Hichi Akemi, advance to Gate 3 please!"

As the Sound triplets bounded forward, Seito turned to Ya. "Why are they only calling one team forward? I thought everyone did the exam at the same time?"

Ya shook her head. "It's up to the chosen examiner to set the exam. It can be anything at all - in fact, it's different every time, unless they choose the same examiner twice, and even then, they always try to change the program, if only to prevent anyone from cheating. The only fixed requirement is that each team is treated as a whole; if one of a team fails the exam, the entire team reaps the consequences." Ya and her team had already attempted the exam the previous year, but they'd left early, not considering themselves ready just yet to become Chuunin. Their sensei, Kama's father, Kiba Inuzuka, had agreed. As a result, Ya, Sukido and Unaga were a year older than Seito, Kama and Sebaakki.

Seito bit his lip. "I wonder what the exam is this time. And who the examiner is." Nobody had an answer to that.

Five minutes later, the Jounin guard came back. Without the triplets.

"Morini Hido, Akimichi Takira, and Aburame Kino, Gate 3 please!"

Kama yelped as Hido stood from where he'd been sitting across from them. Takira and Kino were instantly at his side, and Ookami, Kama's familiar, bounded up to him, licking his hands as Kama watched, her own hands on her mouth. She whistled, and Ookami came back up to her. Hido met her gaze, and Kama waved at him. He waved back, Takira and Kino inclined their heads in acknowledgement, and then they were gone with the ninja.

Ya put a hand on Kama's arm. "Don't worry," she said soothingly. "They'll be okay."

It was another two Mist teams and three Leaf teams later before a team they knew was called. Seito detected Sukido's presence just as the ninja was saying, "Hyuuga Ya, Uchiha Sukido, and Rock Unaga! To Gate 3 please!"

The white haired Uchiha took a step forward, dragging Ya along white him silently as she waved goodbye at them. Unaga took Seito in his arms for a brief hug before he left, and soon Seito, Kama, Ookami and Seba were left to themselves. None of them said anything. They were too anxious for that.

Two Leaf teams, two Mist teams and one Sound team later, it was their turn.

"Uzumaki Seito, Nara Sebaakki, and Inuzuka Kama, Gate 7 please!"

"It's not the same Gate," Kama whispered into his ear. Seito nodded but didn't say what he was thinking; that something must have happened with Gate 3 - something that made it impracticable. The team before theirs had been Team 13, Rochiru Sataido's team - Hyuuga Kuroichi, Kimiko Demashi, and Itan Setsudan. Whatever they'd done, it couldn't be good.

Beyond Gate 7, there was a long, barren metal corridor. It looked like the kind of place that was insonorised to make sure that nobody would hear you screaming. Seito gulped, but again he said nothing.

"Hyuuga Kuroichi," Seba suddenly said into the silence as they walked. The Jounin ninja had stayed at the Gate once they'd crossed the threshold, and told them to keep walking straight.

Seito looked back at his friend. "What?"

"Hyuuga Kuroichi," he repeated, his voice thoughtful. "You do not remember her being there."

It took a moment for Seito to place his friend's words, but then he understood. It was true; he had no clear memory of Kuroichi's presence inside the room or when her name had been called earlier. He knew she'd been there, but the fact that he had no clear visual memory of her, that he could only just remember her two teammates walking through Gate 3, left him dumbfounded. The Jounin ninja who'd called their names hadn't said anything when Demashi and Setsudan had passed him out, which meant that she HAD been there - but that somehow he hadn't been able to see her.

Then he remembered Seba's exact words; 'You do not remember her being there.'

Seba _had_ seen her. And if he was talking about it now, it meant that the reason Seito couldn't remember her was that she, too, had a genjutsu around her - and that Seba had seen through it.

The look on the Nara's face and Kama's sharp intake of breath confirmed what he was thinking. "Be careful," he said, both to Seito and Kama, his voice low as he looked straight ahead and kept walking. "She uses genjutsu - not to hide herself, but the sword on her back." The frown in the boy's voice was audible as he said, "Since her chakra was concentrating on the sword, I saw her, but I could not make out the exact shape of the sword. Her goal was that I should not have been able to see it at all." He shook his head. "Sand and Leaf," he mused darkly. "It would seem that both the Fire and Wind country have fathered incredibly strong ninja in the last thirteen years." Seba looked down to Seito's anxious face, then to Kama's. "Watch out for the two of them. Their presence and abilities are no coincidence."

Then they were in a closed off room with a Jounin Leaf ninja facing them, two doors, one on either side of him, and it wasn't time to speak anymore.

The first part of the test to become Chuunin was finally here.

* * *

_A/N: Hey guyz! So, yep, new fanfic! My first Naruto fanfiction! : D I'm so excited for this one, honestly! I wrote this entire chapter and created the characters and set the plot and everything else in just under three days... x D_

_To anyone reading my other fanfics (Second Life, Razor Sharp), DO NOT WORRY! They WILL be continued, I just lack Harry Potter feels at the moment! x) I have about a third of Chapter 7 of Second Life written...now I just have to continue it... xD As for my Fairy Tail fanfic Shut Up!, I honestly don't know whether or not I'm going to continue it. I've had only two requests to write another chapter (that would be the 'morning after' ; ) ), but I honestly have no Fairy Tail feels left either! I'm completely into Naruto at the moment (Chapter 111) and I'm just engrossed into it with no hope of survival... x D_

_Please do tell me if you've read or are reading any of my other fanfics. :P It's always nice to know that somebody has read a few of your works! :D_

_Now, I know that new generation fanfics in the Naruto fandom don't generally get such a great response, but I wanted to write this, badly, so... Please share this around, I would be forever grateful! :' )_

_Chapter 2, the first part of the Chuunin exam, is in writing! : D I posted this Chapter as soon as I finished it, which means that I don't have any chapters written in advance, but hopefully I'll be more inspired to write them than I have been for my HP fanfics recently... x )_

_Thanks to my two Beta readers and friends Rashi Kumar and Neko Mavis/kagamine1378! :D_

_~Tenshi_


	2. Chapter 2: The Unknown

_Important definitions for this chapter!_

_Nakago: the handle or hilt of a sword._

_Saya: scabbard (sheath) of a sword._

_Shin gunto: very slightly curved sword of the Imperial Japanese Army with a metal saya, produced from the 1930s to the end of World War II in 1945._

_Tsurugi: a straight two edged sword that was produced prior to the 10th century, and without differential hardening or folding. _

_Haji's tsurugi: 35cm (15 in) wide and 155 cm (61 in) long, with a black line through the middle and spread out teeth along the edges of both sides. It is wider at the hilt, the edges curving inward and reducing the total width by two inches around the middle of blade, before resuming straight edges. It narrows again slightly at the tip to end in a straight point finished by the black line running through the entire length of the blade. If you want to see an image of it, type 'Dissidia first tsurugi' in google images and it should show up. There's two versions of it, so just remember that it's NOT the one with the diagonal cut at the tip, there's actually a sort of hollow in at the point of it, you'll understand when you see it. : P Once you find the right type of tsurugi, picture it with a much, MUCH larger blade and you'll have it! : D Here's a link to an image, but since I'm not sure it's gonna work I'm still giving you a way to find it yourself! ^_^ Just take out the spaces and you'll have it! : P _  
_ images. wikia finalfantasy/images/archive/5/5d/20110218052441! _

_Nodachi: very large and heavy sword with lengths up to 120-150 cm (47-59 in) for use in field battles. Worn across the back._

_Kuroichi's Early Nodachi: heavy sword with a blade thinner at the hilt and wider at the tip. The tip of the blade is cut diagonally. Length of 139 cm (54.7 in) and width of 7cm (2.7 in) at the base, and 11 cm (4.3 in) at its widest point before the tip's diagonal cut._

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Chapter 2: The Unknown 

"Team 14 - am I right? Hatake's rookies."

The ninja in front of them smiled at them.

"Yeah," Seito replied, trying to keep the mistrust out of his voice.

"What's our test?" Kama interrupted eagerly.

The ninja threw her an amused glance. "You'll see. Girls this way please." And he pointed at the door to his right.

"What? Why?" Kama looked indignant. Ookami barked.

The ninja's pleasant smile vanished, and he fixed her with a less than cordial glare. He nodded to the door on his right again, then crossed his arms and said, "It's your choice. Either you go through that door, Inuzuka Kama, and Uzumaki Seito and Nara Sebaakki go through the other one - or you don't. And reap the consequences."

"Why should we do it?" Seito asked coldly. The ninja looked at him. "Why do we have to separate?"

The ninja said, "Either do it, or don't. It's your choice. But there is a different outcome for each of the two choices. So choose well. Remember; girls to the left, boys to the right." Then his hands moved and he disappeared in a flurry of chakra and leaves.

"We're not leaving you behind," Seito said to Kama once he was gone.

"Then what? We'll all be disqualified? That won't be much use to any of us. If we have to split up, then I don't mind. I have Ookami." She patted her familiar's head and looked up, meeting the Uzumaki's troubled eyes. "I can take care of myself, Sei. Don't worry about-"

"I know that," Seito interrupted with an impatient wave of his hand. "I'm not worried about you - I know you're more than capable of holding your own." He paused and turned to the two doors. "That's not the problem, is it?" He looked at Seba, and was pleased to see the Nara's lips twitching in an approving smile. Seito looked back to Kama. "We're a team," he said gravely. "We don't split up. It's as simple as that. There's no way we're leaving anyone behind." Again, he paused, and his eyes switched back to Seba. "We either do this together, or not at all. Understood?"

"But-"

Seito shook his head. "Not 'but', Kama. We do this together, or we don't. And, remember what Ya said? 'The only fixed requirement is that each team is treated as a whole.' Don't fool yourself. We're not leaving you - or anyone - behind. They have no right to separate us, and if what Ya said is correct, then they shouldn't even be trying to in the first place."

Kama looked startled for a second, then she said, "You think they're setting us up?"

"I think they're testing us. And you're not going anywhere without us. We're a team, and we work together. We either move forward as a whole, or we step back."

The Inuzuka seemed to understand, and she nodded determinedly. She crouched low, and Ookami jumped onto her shoulders. She was about to stand back up when suddenly she stopped, a striken look on her face. She leaned forward, bringing her face closer to the ground, sniffed, then looked back up at them, an odd expression on her face. "Seba-san," she said, "this floor isn't metal, is it?"

The Nara smiled approvingly. He nodded, then pointed to the floor. "Did you not wonder where the leaves came from when the Jounin used Shunshin no Jutsu?"

Seito whirled around, suddenly remembering the leaves that had been flying around when the shinobi had disappeared. He crouched, blinked, and then he saw it - the metallic ground juxtaposed on a leafy forest floor. He spun on his heels, still crouching. "You saw this as soon as we got here, didn't you?" That weird smile Seba had been sporting suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

"I saw," the other boy confirmed. Then he lifted his arm and made a sweeping motion around them. "But think more carefully, Seito-kun. The illusion would have been revealed instantly had we tried to open any of the doors. It is there for a reason. Yes, we are currently in a wood behind the Konoha Exam Hall. But we are also in a metal corridor that was carefully designed to fool us with its reality, up until the moment when we crossed the threshold of those doors and thus failed the first part of the exam." Sebaakki turned on himself and pointed back to where they'd come from; the dark corridor didn't change its appearance as Seito stared at it. "The forest begins right here; and our test has only just truly begun. If crossing these doors meant failing this test, and if it also meant breaking this carefully crafted illusion and discovering the woods, then we must live within the illusion. Act as though it were real. The second part of the test lies within this genjutsu; the forest means 'fail'; the illusion means that we can still keep going."

Seito honestly had to admire Seba for deducting that on his own.

"So we can't break the genjutsu," Kama mused aloud, standing now. "But if going through a door will reveal it, what else can we do? We can't go back - that would mean giving up. So what now?"

The answer flashed before Seito's eyes, and he whispered, as though to himself, "A genjutsu within a genjutsu." Again, Seba nodded. Of course he'd seen it.

"What do you mean?" Kama sounded unsure, and he couldn't blame her. He'd found the answer himself, but even then he was having difficulties grasping the concept. 'A genjutsu within a genjutsu'... He hadn't known it was possible, and yet now that they'd all recognized the first, more obvious illusion, he could sense a second layer of chakra, a second illusion, crafted down onto the second one, but he was at a loss to explain it. He looked to Seba helplessly, silently begging him to explain what HE couldn't.

The Nara's lips twitched upwards at the look on Seito's face, his equivalent of a barked laugh.

"I will explain." He stepped forward and waved a hand in front of the wall between the two doors. Nothing happened. "This wall," Seba began, "is part of the first genjutsu, yet nothing happens when we attempt to see through it while bearing in mind that same first genjutsu. That is because it has been anchored into reality by a SECOND genjutsu - an illusion that is part of the first genjutsu instead of being directly applied to the reality beyond it. This second use of chakra onto chakra weighs down the first illusion, if you like, and makes it more real. If you tried to walk through this wall to reveal the illusion, you'd walk straight into solid metal."

He knocked on the surface to illustrate his point, and instead of going straight through it as it would have through one of the doors or any of the other walls, his hand landed on a hard surface. The sound of his knuckles reverberated for a short second, then was cut short as the vibration reached the fictious doors on each side of it, having no more solid material to travel through.

"How is that even possible?" Kama whispered, her eyes bulging. She'd never had any profound love for the use of genjutsu.

Seba explained, "Our parents' generation and the ones before that based their genjutsu on their victim's chakra, thus making it possible for that genjutsu to be spotted and broken without direct access to the origin ninja of the genjutsu. It also meant that the illusion was not real in the strict sense of the term - nobody could actually see it but the centre point of the jutsu - the victim. It is the case with this room - it is based on our chakra. This here," and he pointed at the wall he'd just knocked on, "is based on the USER'S chakra - and thus, the illusion is much more stable, and is both visible and tangible to everyone. As a result, it is also impossible to break it besides by somehow incapacitating or distracting the ninja, and also incredibly hard to see. The only inconvenient for a genjutsu user is that it uses up the ninja's chakra instead of the victim's." He paused and nodded back to the corridor they'd come from. "That is what Kuroichi Hyuuga and the Sand girl were doing. They were using their own chakra, which is why it was so hard for you to see through it. I managed because it is my area of expertise, and the shinobi at the Gate saw Hyuuga-san because his generation are currently being educated in relation to these techniques. It has only been around for a few years. The older ninjas do not know about it unless they willingly undertake up-to-date education.

"Thus, we have two challenges here. Number One, and though you may not have realized it yet, the first illusion is using up OUR chakra. We cannot block it's access to our reserves as that would break the illusion, and thus automatically cause us to fail the exam. This means that if we're not fast enough, we'll most likely of exertion and empty chakra and stamina reserves, or be forced to give up.

"Number Two; the ninja who threw the second genjutsu does not have inexhaustible reserves. When he or she runs out of chakra, we will have lost. That means that, no matter what happens, we have to hurry. Either WE run out, or HE runs out. We have a time limit, but we have no idea where that limit lies. It could be anywhere between five minutes and two hours, depending on ours and the ninja's chakra reserves and the importance of the two genjutsu."

"Then what are we doing here talking?" Kama asked, trying hard to take it all in yet eager to move. "We have to find what that second genjutsu's for, don't we?"

"Yes, Kama-chan, we do indeed. Come here."

Seba stepped away from the wall and beckoned the girl and her wolf over to it. The Inuzuka obliged. Once she was facing the wall, she blinked. Then she looked up to Seba's face, three inches above hers. Her face scrunched up for half a second, and suddenly she was laughing, her entire upper body thrown back as her chest heaved and heaved and she laughed with her mouth wide open, in a wild, formidable explosion of joy.

Seba, slightly disconcerted, raised his eyebrows and threw a questioning glance at Seito. That was a bad idea; seeing Seba surprised was so rare a feat that the Uzumaki also burst into laughter, bent in two at waist and slapping his knees, his voice joining the Inuzuka's as the Nara and Ookami stared bemusedly at them. The wolf cub barked, and his companion crouched, laughter interrupted. Then she looked back up at the other boy, and her face softened.

"I just realized," she started, standing, clutching Ookami to her chest as though to protect herself, cheeks redenning slightly, "that if it wasn't for you, we would have failed this test."

The look on Seba's face was priceless. He was startled and surprised to say the least, staring at the girl's face as though he'd never seen her before. Seito would have gone straight back to laughing if it hadn't been for Kama's tone of voice. Like she was making a confidence. He couldn't see her face from where he was, but Seba's was enough of an indication as to what was going through their heads. Up until now, he'd never realized it, but there was something between these two - something that had matured over the years. They'd grown up together, knew each other better than anyone else in their group; it didn't matter that they were only eleven years old - his mother, Hinata, had already been in love with his father at eleven years old, and they'd ended up getting married and having a son! Nearly twenty years later they were still together and hopelessly in love - and if that didn't mean anything then he didn't know what did.

Seito found himself desperately hoping that his two friends could find solace in each other.

The moment passed as Ookami barked again, and Seba blinked and whispered, "Thank you, Kama-dono. Really."

The Inuzuka nodded briefly, keeping her eyes down as her face turned a bright shade of red. She turned to face the wall - the second genjutsu - and lifted her head to look at it. The colour slipped from her face slowly as she considered her options, concentrating on and analyzing the wall opposite her. She let the wolf cub down to the floor, then raised a hand and placed her palm vertically, less than an inch from the wall. Seito understood what she was doing. If she got too close to a part of the wall that wasn't impregnated with the second genjutsu, the illusion would break. They had to determine where the second genjutsu began and where the first stopped, and the Kama had always been better than him at sensing chakra, thanks to her overdeveloped Inuzuka senses. Seba could have done it, but Seito had a feeling that the taller boy was playing the teacher again, not wanting to do all the work for them.

"What are you sensing?" the Uzumaki asked eagerly.

"I think - I think the second genjutsu starts here, about a third up the height of the wall." She cocked her head to the side and said, "From what I can feel, it's a - a sort of tube, a passage. It extends way past this wall. There's something behind it, maybe another room, made from the same chakra type - by the same ninja." She closed her eyes and breathed in. "This close to the wall, I can't smell the forest anymore, like I did when I was crouching. It's smells more REAL - like metal and cold." Kama turned back to them, a triumphant grin on her face. "It's this way!"

Then she turned back to the wall, waved a confident hand over the space that she had determined was the second genjutsu, and instantly a black, rectangular hole appeared, stretching over the second half of the wall, a sort of conduct that led way out from where they where. Kama braced her hands on the edge of the open tube, careful not to touch the part of the wall a few inches below the edge that was not part of the second genjutsu, lifted herself up swiftly and vertically using the strength in her hands, arms and abdominal muscles, her feet kicked up in the air, and used the momentum of her spin to propel herself upwards, let go of the edge, and land back on her feet. The tube held, confirming Seba's words that it was indeed more real than a regular genjutsu.

Seba moved in and repeated Kama's moves, quickly followed by Seito, and soon enough all three of them were moving forward in a half crouching position, even though there was actually enough space for them to stand fully upright, alert for any tricks and traps that might have been laid for them.

Not a minute of completely silent progression later and they were in front of a dead end. Kama stopped first and called a halt, crouching on the ground to press her ear against the cold metal and run her fingertips along the edges were it met the tube, checking for sounds and for air passage. The two boys fell silent behind her, falling down on one knee and bracing just the tips of their fingers to the floor.

Seconds later, Kama drew back a few steps, reached into a pouch on her jacket, and took out a smaller exploding pouch. She set it on the ground gently, then reached into another pouch and took out a piece of rope about as long as her leg. She used her kunai to cut it in two, gave one half to Seba and kept the other half. Then she straightened, ripped a length of cloth from her black shirt, and wrapped it carefully around the exploding pouch. She picked up her piece of rope, tied it around a handle protruding from the far left side of the dead end, and motioned for Seba to imitate her on his side, which he did. She then gave her end of the rope to Seito, picked up the exploding pouch, set it against the bottom of the dead end, fiddled with it for a few seconds, and threw herself back as it exploded with a barely audible pop, catching both ropes on either side of her in front of the others' straining hands to make sure they wouldn't let go in surprise as the whole weight of the dis-articulated wall fell on them to hold up. They didn't; they were trained for these kinds of situations.

Still, Seito turned on Kama and nearly shouted, but restrained himself to a strained whisper just in time, "You could have warned us!"

Kama grinned up at him from the floor. "It wouldn't have been as fun!"

For his part, Seba was analyzing her work. "The cloth on the exploding pouch was to muffle the sounds of the explosion," he whispered, a tinge of admiration in his voice. "And the ropes were to stop the wall from falling and creating a racket." He turned to her and smiled. "Good thinking, Kama-chan."

She ducked her head and scrambled upward, muttering a shy "Thanks" that was brashly uncharacteristic of her. Seito nearly rolled his eyes, but instead moved forward with Seba, both of them keeping their ropes fully extended as they closed in on the wall and caught the handles on either of their sides. In perfect synchronisation, they lifted it and slid out of the passage using only their feet, landing on hard ground on the other side, their senses confirming that this was not another illusion. They waited for Kama to step out, then replaced the portion of wall, in a precarious balance state that in the case of an infiltration would have sufficed for them to do what they needed to do, and wouldn't have budged until somebody actually walked up to it and touched it.

They were in a closed off room, with no windows and a single door in front of them, the only light filtering through the space under it, and the door the only exit besides the tube behind them.

"This way, then," Seito muttered, and took the lead as they stepped carefully towards the door. He took a kunai and a shuriken out at the ready, then peeped through the keyhole of the door and nearly laughed out loud. They were on the other side - the teams that had been called forward before them. He could see Ya and Unaga lounging on a sort of fountain in the middle of a large, circular room directly in his line of sight. He couldn't see the rest of the room, but he supposed that this was it then.

He opened the door.

Instantly shouts erupted, the lights of the corbelled glass-roof blinding all three of them after the darkness of the tube and room as they moved in, Seito walking deliberately, Kama and Seba more warily, not knowing what to expect and somewhat surprised by his sudden lack of stealth. He felt more than he saw Ya throw her arms around him, shouting delightedly into his ear as though she hadn't seen him in years, then Unaga's comforting weight replacing hers, a strong arm hugging his shoulders as the two boys moved in close to each other.

He barely had time to say a word before the shadow of the instructor fell over them. The tall man was sporting a pleasant smile, eyes twinkling as he witnessed the happy reunion. There was a scar running across his right eye and cheek, his features were doted in tiny crevices as though he'd burst too many moles on his face when he was younger. His hair was spiked in a dark tuft, not quite black, more like dark blue, and he had a companionable face, the kind that made you feel as though it could be trusted with almost anything. In fact, he reminded him a lot of someone, though he couldn't quite pinpoint who. Seito smiled hesitantly back at him.

"Well done, Team 14. We barely heard you coming in at all!" The man smiled brilliantly, hands clasped behind his back as he loomed over them. "Uzumaki Seito, Inuzuka Kama and Nara Sebaakki, congratulations on passing the first part of this exam!"

"Really?!" Kama sounded delighted.

The man looked amused as he nodded and said, "Really! Now follow me, we have only a single team to wait for now."

Seito looked around as they walked to the centre of the room, close to the fountain. He saw Hido, Takira and Kino there, the Sound triplets, jumping around as per usual, a Mist team of two boys and one girl that he hadn't noticed before, the Hyuuga twins and their team partner Tsuko Sarutobi, Asuma Sarutobi's son. In a corner of the room, isolated from the others, he saw Setsudan Itan and Demashi Kimiko, lounging against the wall as though they owned the place. Again, he couldn't see Kuroichi, but judging from the space that the two had left between them, he guessed that she was there. He looked to Seba, who confirmed his thoughts with a nod when their eyes met over Kama and Ya's heads.

He realized that Unaga still had a hold of his hand as he met the boy's questioning eyes and raised eyebrows beside him. Seito shook his head to silently express that he would talk to him later; there were too many walls listening just now. The Rock nodded and looked ahead. "Do you know who he is?" he said quietly.

Seito glanced sideways at his best friend. "Who?"

The black-haired boy inclined his head, dipping his chin into his neck to indicate the man. "The instructor. His name is Sarutobi Konohamaru. The scar on his eye... Rumour says he got it against a missing-nin in the middle of the desert in the Wind country. The man summoned a lion, and since Sarutobi had no chakra left, he fought the thing bare handed, with only his weapons. He slew it, and then he caught the Sand guy off guard and slashed his throat with a thrown kunai." Unaga paused, watching as the ninja spoke to the Sound triplets. "He crawled all the way back to Konoha - couldn't stop in Suna since he wasn't on an official mission. He hadn't even planned to meet that missing-nin. He wasn't prepared for it." He turned to the Uzumaki, gaze infinitely penetrating. "Seito... Your father... He... Konohamaru was named by the Third Hokage after the village. He was the Third Hokage's grandson, an orphan, and up until he met your father he was nothing. He was brash and naïve, and then eleven year old Uzumaki Naruto came along and taught him that there was no shortcut to becoming Hokage. He taught him to never give up, to follow his ninja's way no matter what. If it wasn't for your father...Konohamaru would not be who he is today."

Seito didn't know what to answer to that. He'd known about Sarutobi Konohamaru. That is, he'd known about the little boy who'd taken his father's goggles for himself and had elevated Uzumaki Naruto as an example he should follow. His father had never said anything about what Konohamaru had become. Yet here it seemed that the little boy had grown to be a man, and a legend amongst Konoha ninja. The fact that HE had never heard of him up until now was most likely due to the fact that he was the Sixth Hokage's son; most people were reluctant to mention anything that had trait to Uzumaki Naruto's lonely and tormented childhood.

Seito looked up, and it was only then that he noticed the pair of goggles clasped around the ninja's neck and resting against the nape of it. And he realized with a start who it was that this man resembled; Sarutobi Asuma, the Third's son and Konohamaru's uncle.

So Sarutobi Konohamaru was the first instructor of his Chuunin exam. A man who was somehow connected to his father's dark past - a past that he'd rarely glimpsed outside of the few anecdotes his parents and friends' parents had provided them with. He wasn't sure whether or not that was a coincidence, or whether it was supposed to mean something.

The Sixth Hokage's son gulped. They'd find out soon enough.

"What was that?" he heard Kama say behind him.

He turned to her and saw that she was looking up, her eyebrows drawn together as her eyes searched the ceiling.

"What's wrong?"

Her eyes fell to him, dark and worried. "I heard something," she whispered, and he didn't doubt her for a second.

Seito turned away, and his eyes silently measured the distance he'd have to cross. Instantly, he let go of Unaga's hand. He tensed, lunged, and started running, picking up speed as he hurtled closer and closer to the wall. He jumped, focused chakra to his feet, and landed on the wall, crouching forward with his arms behind him for balance. A millisecond more, and he was running again, parallel to the wall; then he pushed himself off, executed a long, drawn-out back flip, and another fraction of a second saw him poised on the headpoint of the fountain statue depicting the First Hokage.

On the ground, Konohamaru had come closer to the group of friends, but was keeping silent, observing the youngster from where he was. He too had felt the disturbance in the air, the slight movement betrayed only by the vibration that had reached his ear drum, that the Inuzuka girl had caught. He watched as his childhood idol's only son cocked his head to one side and the other, angling his ears in such a way as to catch the most sounds, the rest of his body rock still, blue eyes piercing and alert. Waited to see what he would do.

Then he sensed it again. He turned his head ever so slightly, in the direction of the last Gate, the one that the last team were supposed to come through. If they'd passed, they should be here any second now. Which meant that the sound was probably them.

He waved in the Uzumaki's direction to catch his attention, then shook his head and put a finger to his lips, simultaneously telling everyone in the room to be quiet, their attention rapt on their silent exchange. He motioned for the boy to come back, and a second later the blond was landing on the ground with a stealth and discretion that would have rendered a lot of people jealous. Konohamaru would have smiled if not for the imminent appearance of the last team.

He motioned for them all to sit on the fountain. A short while later and Rock, Inuzuka, Uzumaki, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Nara, Morini, Akimichi, Aburame, and the Hyuuga twins and his uncle's son, Tsuko Sarutobi, were sitting on the steps, with the Hichi Sound triplets closing in on them warily. He hadn't expected Kimiko and Itan to join them, so he was surprised when they did, sitting on his left side where there was nobody yet. He glimpsed the Hyuuga's genjutsu as she sat close to him, and this time he DID smile, his eyes slipping helplessly over the space where he knew she was sitting as though repelled by an inverted magnet. There was something about that girl... She was definitely more than she was letting on. She reminded him of someone, but he wasn't sure exactly who. He had a feeling that once he found out, he wouldn't like it at all.

Then the Mist team joined them, and he realized something else.

Five Leaf, one Mist, one Sound. Which meant two things.

First, that the other countries seriously needed to up their terrain training.

And second, that he knew who the last team was.

He stood. He knew the vibrations in the air. They were coming from every side at once, and he couldn't see them. He could only wait - and for a moment that was ALL he could do.

Then the air stirred behind him. He whirled around, whipped out the shin gunto from the metal scabbard at his belt, propelled his chakra straight into the blade, and blocked - in extremis. The blade of water formed by the dark-haired teen in front of him had clashed against his, stopped only by the chakra in his sword. If he hadn't had the reflex to inject his chakra into the shin gunto, the water sword would have sailed straight through it and slashed a bloody line across his chest.

Konohamaru spun on his heels, pulling the shin gunto upwards and sideways to send the water blade off course, and stopped the shadow blade that had lunged at his back as soon as he'd turned it to parry the water blade. He felt his shin gunto giving in, and increased his flow of chakra, gritting his teeth against the strain. The shadow blade's nakago was leaking, floating darkness pooling in the air where a hand should have been, to form the vague and ever-changing shape of a man - a round, shining skull, scarred skin and blank eyes staring him down in cold-blooded fury. Again, Sarutobi made a sweeping movement, swinging the blade in a circular movement over his head to lash out at both the moving shadow in front of him and the water blade behind him - then he turned, to his right, and he saw her.

A moving figure, flicking in and out of reality, running so fast that he could hardly follow her course.

Right, left, right, left - appearing and disappearing like someone clicking an on/off button repeatedly - in a zig-zag pattern along the line that led - straight to him.

He had just enough time to lift his blade as the silhouette reached him and lashed out at him, a tsurugi the width of his chest and the length of his body thrown against his thin shin gunto with a force that nearly sent him tumbling backwards. If he'd found it hard to hold up against the shadow blade, it was no comparison to this.

The girl wielding the blade was with the other two - the water and the shadow - and the leader of their team, it seemed. She had flowing red hair, as violent and aggressive as flames and framing her contorted features. The tsurugi was longer and larger than she was and yet she wielded it as though it weighed nothing, with the mastery of someone who had been born with a blade in their hands. It struck him then that she wasn't using any chakra in her assault - that it was through sheer and pure, unadultered strength that she was gaining on him, pushing him back inexorably. He felt his knees buckle, felt his chakra running out as it was sucked right into the girl's black and grey blade - no regular tsurugi at all, but a sword enhanced to suck the chakra out of unsuspecting victims.

It wasn't possible that she was only a Genin; the thought flitted across his mind, a sudden realization that had no impact on him as he focused all his energy and concentration on the girl. Yes, he knew who she was and who her team were. Their reputation had easily reached Konoha.

Haji Shingai-Yoru, the girl with the speed of wind and the anger of the world inside her eyes; Kira Kuromo, the boy of water, the boy that nobody had ever touched barr from his two teammates; and Uen Akaaka, the boy born of shadows who'd burnt half his face to shreds with his own ninjutsu when he was a child. They were vessels of raw power, unrefined fury, beings as far from humanity as was possible to stray. The bald boy's cold fury and impassive demeanour reminded him of the Kazekage when he was younger; Gaara of the Sand, vessel to the One Tail - the boy who never slept - the boy who'd killed because he could.

And the girl - there were not enough words in the world to describe what he felt as he looked straight into her bottomless blue eyes, iris black-rimmed and penetrating as though she could see into his very soul. Even facing that lion and the missing-nin all those years ago he hadn't felt so helpless, so utterly DEFENCELESS, as she pushed him into the ground as though she could make him disappear into it, her entire body pulsating in anger, fury and pure POWER.

Her weight was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, and in front of him, impossibly, DEFENDING him, hands raised over her head and nodachi pointed downward beside her face in the last phase of a deflecting strike, left leg out extended to the side under the angled blade and the other bent forward, stood Kuroichi Hyuuga.

On his right, Demashi Kimiko, crouching in the fountain's basin, hands buried under the clear water and glowing with chakra as she kept Kira Kuromo's water under control, the boy's shape outlined in the air by flying and moving droplets of water.

On his left, Setsudan Itan, standing with his hands poised against the shadow boy's chest, chakra crackling under his fingers and flashing inside the whirling darkness like lightning in black, storm-laden clouds.

In front of him, the Sand girl lunged forward, slashing down with incredible strength, attempting to catch Kuroichi off guard and over-power her. But the Hyuuga Leaf orphan was alert, and she let the tsurugi slide harmlessly against her nodachi's smooth blade, flipped it to the side, twisted, swirled, jumped in towards the base of the other sword, and the redhead's tsurugi went flying from her grip.

REALLY?

Konohamaru was staring with his jaw hanging low.

He was a trained Jounin. He was over twenty-five years old. He had fought a lion bare-handed and nearly lost an eye to it. And these kids - an eleven year old and a thirteen year old - were making him pass for a harmless puppy.

REALLY?

"Back off," Kuroichi hissed at the girl. He could only see her back and the saya of her nodachi strapped around it, but that was more than enough to realize that she was furious. Her voice was literally DRIPPING with fury, and directed at the now-unarmed Sand Genin. She took a step forward, the tip of her sword pointed upwards in a two-handed grip close to her stomach, pushing the red-headed Sand back inch by inch. "This is MY village," she snarled, "and these are MY people. You lift a single hand on them outside of the exam's boundaries, and you're dead meat."

Konohamaru pushed himself up slowly, wondering what the hell was going on. This was supposed to be the first part of a Chuunin exam, and some of the students were proving stronger than him!

He steadied himself and took a step forward, taking comfort in the fact that he was taller than most of the students except for Hido Morini's team. The thirteen year old Kuroichi reached his chin, and when he dropped a hand on her shoulder, he had to admire the fact that she didn't flinch. She'd heard him coming, it seemed, even focused as she was on the Sand girl. Her two teammates were not even watching, confident and boundlessly trusting as they were, focused on their own battles and sure of the fact that their leader would do what she had to.

"Kuroichi," he said softly. He didn't know what the girl was like, didn't know how she would react to being spoken to by a teacher. He'd heard of her, as had all of the ninjas of Konoha, but he'd never been this close to her in the past. He knew she'd never deigned to speak in public before; when the Academy's teachers spoke to her, she'd simply turned her head the other way. He supposed that she spoke to Kimiko and Itan, but even that had yet to be proved. As far as he was concerned, he'd never heard the sound of her voice before. Their sensei, Sataido Rochiru, had once told him that she was a brilliant student, but that he'd never heard nor seen her speak.

In truth, Hyuuga Kuroichi was a complex character. She was not reluctant to obey her elders; she was respectful and cold, straight in her boots and dutiful. She never overdid anything, performed only the necessary moves to overthrow her opponents, never showed off her strength or intelligence. She kept to herself, yet was never seen alone; when she WAS glimpsed by anyone, it was never without one or the other of her two partners, and she was always training. She had an impeccable taijutsu technique which she used in conjunction with her Gentle Fist Hyuuga and Byakugan heritage, and a preference for fire jutsu; the rumour was that one of her parents had been an Uchiha. She DID look like one, barr her eyes; that impossible mane of spiky jet black hair was unmistakable.

Until now, nobody had ever seen her showing any other emotion than indifference. Even when fighting during missions she remained calm and composed at all times, effective and fast but never, NEVER emotional.

Yet here Konohamaru was, his hand on her shoulder feeling her entire body quivering in barely contained rage. She HAD emotions after all; they were just buried so far within her that it took a threat to 'her people' to wrench her out of her bounds.

"Kuroichi," he repeated, calmly, measured, then stopped. He didn't know what to say. Wasn't sure if there was anything to be said. It was possible that she'd just saved his life. And if she had, what could he say about it? He didn't think she'd care if he tried to thank her. So he waited for her to make the first move.

Eventually, with the Jounin's hand still light on her shoulder, she straightened. In a gesture none of them understood, she slid her index finger along the blade of her nodachi, from the base to the wider tip. Then she raised her arms and slid the sword back into the saya slung across her back, and turned her back on the Sand girl, shrugging Konohamaru's hand off in the same movement.

She walked up to where Kira Kuromo and Demashi Kimiko still remained inside the fountain basin, stood for a few seconds staring at the water boy, who by now, thanks to Demashi's chakra, looked more human than water. Just stood there, staring straight into his liquid eyes as though they were having a silent conversation. Then she turned away, and behind her the white haired, red-streaked ninja rose, hands dripping gently as she stepped out of the water after her team leader. Her feet were completely dry. And despite the fact that there was nobody holding him back anymore, the water boy did not move - just as the defeated Sand girl had remained rooted to the spot that Kuroichi had backed her to.

Now the Hyuuga was beside Itan and Akaaka. The storm was still raging within the bald boy's body, and for the first time his shadow-like lips curved into a hissing, animalistic snarl, directed straight at the Leaf orphan standing on his right.

The black-haired girl's hand moved.

She raised it slowly, like a child trying not to scare a tiny creature away. Like a young girl about to pick a flowerhead from its stem.

Her index and her middle finger hovered over the shadow's forehead.

On cue, the clouds ceased their whirling. The shadow boy - Uen - watched, his eyes fixed on her hand. Itan's lightning chakra still flashed inside him, but slowly his own clouds became subdued, as though the storm had reached its strongest lashing and was now receding.

Kuroichi's fingers slid down his face, gently, never quite touching the skin, tracing the curve of the bulbous forehead, the peak of the round, cherub nose, the full lips. She stopped there, hovering over the boy's lips like a bee over the heart of a flower. So close that it was impossible now to make out whether she was touching him or not.

She drew her hand back to her chest, and the boy slumped forward, following the backward movement of her fingers like a puppet pulled by a string held in her fingers, and suddenly he was solid again, all trace of the raging storm that had been his body gone as though it had never been there. Itan caught him by the shoulders, and the bald boy's head fell over the other's shoulder, his body collapsing into the redhead's like a stone pulled downward by gravity.

There was movement behind Konohamaru, and he was suddenly incredibly aware that, hypnotised by Kuroichi's movement, he had turned his back on the Sand girl. She was moving now, and though he didn't turn to watch her he knew that she was moving to where Setsudan, Demashi, Kuroichi and Akaaka were standing. In seconds she was there, and she took her partner's weight from the other redhead's arms, pulling his back against her chest and sliding her arms around him gently. His eyes were closed, and his head fell back against her shoulder, chest raising and falling so gently that it was hard to notice it.

Haji knelt. Never once did she glance at Kuroichi, Demashi and Setsudan as they stood in front of her, hands down by their sides. Then another figure was standing behind her; a boy with hair so dark it was coral-green.

The two teams, Leaf and Sand, stood opposite each other, complete now. United by ties that those watching could not fathom.

It struck Konohamaru as odd, in that moment, that the instructor for the next part of the exam had not arrived yet. But then he realized with a smile that the Sand team's arrival had been only minutes before at most. HE felt as though a lifetime had passed.


End file.
